Lenses:

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM

Class:: Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto
Part number:: 0344B002
Introduced:: August 2005

Similar Lenses

Canon	EF	28-90mm	f/4.0-5.6				$109.95	Details
Canon	EF	28-105mm	f/4.0-5.6				$124.95	Details
Canon	EF	28-105mm	f/4.0-5.6			USM	$139.95	Details
Canon	EF	28-105mm	f/3.5-4.5			USM	$229.95	Details
Canon	EF	24-85mm	f/3.5-4.5			USM	$309.95	Details
Canon	EF	28-200mm	f/3.5-5.6			USM	$359.95	Details
Canon	EF	28-135mm	f/3.5-5.6		IS	USM	$419.95	Details
Canon	EF-S	17-85mm	f/4.0-5.6		IS	USM	$509.95	Details
Canon	EF	24-105mm	f/4.0	L	IS	USM	$1,129.95	Details
Canon	EF	24-70mm	f/2.8	L		USM	$1,149.95	Details

Thoughts

This is a great lens.

It covers a great set of focal lengths. On a full-frame camera, it captures 84 degrees to 23 degrees with a constant f/4 maximum aperture.

It’s built very well. At a pound and a half, it has some heft, but it’s still comfortable to hold for extended periods of time. It has a ring-type USM, allowing for full-time manual focusing.

It’s sharp. Contrast is great, flare is minimal, and distortion is generally mild, although it has noticable barrel distortion at 24mm. It has good bokeh, too, given circular aperture blades.

Perhaps most importantly: this lens sports Canon’s three-stop image stabilizer. A maximum aperture of f/4 isn’t particularly fast, but the image stabilizer reduces blur from hand-holding significantly. This contributes to this lens’s success as a walk-around lens: it lets the user avoid using a tripod in most circumstances.

Bottom Line

This is perhaps the best general purpose lens for full-frame cameras. One should consider the 24-70 f/2.8 L if speed is critical; if not, the extra 35mm and image stabilization will more than make up the difference.